UTA researchers are recommending in a new study that children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder should be checked for developmental coordination disorder since the two maladies are linked. In an article published this month in the journal Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Priscila Caçola, an assistant professor of kinesiology; UTA librarian Peace Ossom Williamson and Haylie...
Tag: <span>Autism</span>
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Genes, ozone and autism
Increased risk for autism when genetic variation and air pollution meet UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new analysis shows that individuals with high levels of genetic variation and elevated exposure to ozone in the environment are at an even higher risk for developing autism than would be expected by adding the two risk factors together....
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Could autism be helped by changing a patient’s diet? Taking probiotics and adopting a gluten-free lifestyle may improve sufferers’ social behaviour and ability to express emotions
Gluten causes a ‘leaky gut’, where toxins travel to the brain and cause symptoms Probiotics are thought to reverse this process by strengthening the gut’s lining Researchers believe this may offer a cheap, effective way of treating the disorder They add that more research is needed and behavioural therapy should continue Autism may be helped by...
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Treating autism by targeting the gut
Experts have called for large-scale studies into altering the make-up of bacteria in the gut, after a review showed that this might reduce the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Until now, caregivers have relied on rehabilitation, educational interventions and drugs to reduce ASD symptoms, but now researchers suggest that treating this condition could be...
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Predicting autism: Study links infant brain connections to diagnoses at age 2
Researchers use MRIs to make connections between brain regions to predict which high-risk infants will develop autism. For the first time, autism researchers used MRIs of six-month olds to show how brain regions are connected and synchronized, and then predict which babies at high risk of developing autism would be diagnosed with the condition...
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Telehealth reduces wait time, improves care for children with autism living in remote areas
Long wait times have been a persistent issue for families waiting to see an autism specialist, with waits often exceeding a year. Additionally, children with autism living in rural areas have added costs associated with traveling long distances for health care. To address these issues, ECHO Autism, a University of Missouri program, has been successfully training...
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Nasally administered oxytocin increases emotion perception in autism
A recent study has demonstrated that intranasal oxytocin can influence how individuals with autism perceive emotion in others. This is an important first step for a potential pharmacological treatment of autism. Autism is characterized by difficulties in social functioning. Individuals with autism are generally less sensitive to social information, which can influence their interactions with others as...
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Cannabis for kids: Some parents praise pot to treat autism, other disorders despite lack of research
ARIZONA — To say Brandy Williams was a desperate parent is an understatement. “No mother should feel like a punching bag,” she said while describing what was happening with her little boy Logan. “He was literally cocking his head back and smashing it forward on hard objects around our house. I had 30 dents in...
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Diabetes drug may help symptoms of autism associated condition
Metformin 500mg tablets. A widely used diabetes medication could help people with a common inherited form of autism, research shows. Scientists found that a drug called metformin improves sociability and reduces symptomatic behaviours in adult mice with a form of Fragile X syndrome. Researchers say that metformin could be repurposed as a therapy for Fragile X syndrome...
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Combination approach may boost social interactions in autism
The hormone oxytocin, the so-called hug hormone or cuddle chemical, has more nicknames than proven medical uses. However, oxytocin may benefit children with autism spectrum disorders if receptors for opioids—brain chemicals activated by drugs such as heroin that tend to disconnect people socially—are also blocked, Yale researchers report the week of May 1 in...